Discontinuous reception method, terminal device and network device

ABSTRACT

Disclosed by the present application are a discontinuous reception method, terminal device and network device, the method including: a first terminal device determining a target discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle used for the first terminal device to detect a DRX indication signal during a DRX indication cycle which is used for DRX indication signal detection, the DRX indication cycle comprising N DRX cycles, the DRX indication signal being used to indicate that the first terminal device wakes up or sleeps during an activation period of the N DRX cycles after the moment when the DRX indication signal is detected; a first terminal device detecting a DRX indication signal sent by a network device in the target DRX cycle; the first terminal device waking up or sleeping according to the DRX indication signal during the activation period of the N DRX cycles after the moment when the DRX indication signal is detected.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of wireless communication,and more particularly, to a discontinuous reception method, terminaldevice and network device.

BACKGROUND

For the sake of power saving of terminal device, a discontinuousreception (DRX) mechanism has been introduced. Each DRX cycle includesan active period (on Duration) and a sleep period (Opportunity for DRX).A terminal device detects the control channel in the active period, andstops receiving the control channel in the sleep period during which theterminal device may stop the blind detection of the control channel, soas to reduce the power consumption, thereby improving the battery life.

Although the network configures the DRX mechanism for the terminaldevice, the terminal device periodically detects the control channelduring the active period. However, the terminal device is only scheduledopportunistically during the active period, and even the terminal deviceis scheduled only in a few DRX cycles when the service load is very low.For the paging message using DRX mechanism, the terminal receives thepaging message less often. Therefore, after the DRX mechanism isconfigured, the terminal device may not be able to detect the controlchannel during most of the active period but will still be woken up,thus increasing unnecessary power consumption.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of present application relates to a discontinuous receptionmethod, terminal device and network device, which may reduce the powerconsumption of terminal equipment.

In a first aspect, there is provided a discontinuous reception method,which includes: a first terminal device determining a target DRX cycleused for the first terminal device to detect a discontinuous reception(DRX) indication signal; the first terminal device detecting a DRXindication signal sent by a network device, in or before the target DRXcycle, wherein, the DRX indication signal is used to indicate that thefirst terminal device wakes up or sleeps during an active period of theM DRX cycles after the moment when the DRX indication signal isdetected, the M DRX cycles are the DRX indication cycle of the firstterminal device, and M is a positive integer; the first terminal devicewakes up or sleeps during the active period of the M DRX cycles afterthe moment when the DRX indication signal is detected, according to theDRX indication signal.

Therefore, the terminal device detects its own DRX indication signal ata specific time, and learns whether it is scheduled during the activeperiod of the subsequent DRX indication cycles according to the detectedDRX indication signal, and thus remaining sleep when it is not scheduledto further reduce power consumption. Moreover, since time positions fordifferent terminal devices to detect the DRX indication signal aredifferent when the DRX indication signal indicates wake-up and sleep ofthe multiple terminal devices, interference among each other may bereduced when different terminal devices detect the DRX indicationsignal, and the power consumption may be reduced accordingly.

In a possible implementation manner, the first terminal devicedetermining a target discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle, used for thefirst terminal device to detect a DRX indication signal, includes thefirst terminal device determining the target DRX cycle, in a DRXindication signal cycle for detecting a DRX indication signal, whereinthe DRX indication signal cycle includes N DRX cycles, N is a positiveinteger, N=M or N≠M.

In a possible implementation manner, the first terminal devicedetermining a target DRX cycle used for the first terminal device todetect a DRX indication signal during a DRX indication signal cyclewhich is used for detecting a DRX indication signal, includes: the firstterminal device determining an offset value corresponding to the firstterminal device, wherein, the offset value is used to indicate aposition of the target DRX cycle in the DRX indication signal cycle; thefirst terminal device determining the target DRX cycle in the DRXindication signal cycle, according to the offset value.

In a possible implementation manner, the first terminal devicedetermining an offset value corresponding to the first terminal device,includes: the first terminal device determining the offset value,according to User Equipment Identity UE-ID of the first terminal device.

In a possible implementation manner, the offset value is equal to mod(UE-ID, N).

In a possible implementation manner, the first terminal devicedetermining an offset value corresponding to the first terminal device,includes: the first terminal device determining the offset value,according to the Cell Identity Cell ID of the camping cell or theservicing cell of the first terminal device.

In a possible implementation manner, the offset value is equal to mod(Cell ID, N).

In a possible implementation manner, the first terminal devicedetermining the offset value corresponding to the first terminal device,includes: the first terminal device receiving the first configurationinformation sent by the network device, wherein the first configurationinformation is used to indicate the offset value.

In a possible implementation manner, before the first terminal devicedetermines a target DRX cycle used for the first terminal device todetect a DRX indication signal, the method further includes: the firstterminal device receiving second configuration information sent by thenetwork device via Radio Resource Control RRC dedicated signaling, thebroadcast signaling or the Media Access Control Control Element MAC CE,wherein, the second configuration information is used to indicate thenumber N of DRX cycles comprised in the DRX indication signal cycle.

In a possible implementation, the DRX indication signal is used toindicate that multiple terminal devices including the first terminaldevice, wake up or sleep during an active period of M DRX cycles afterthe moment when the DRX indication signal is detected.

The multiple terminal devices corresponding to N DRX cycles in the DRXindication signal cycle, and each of the N DRX cycles is used for acorresponding terminal device to detect the DRX indication signal.

In a possible implementation manner, the multiple terminal devicesbelong to one of the multiple device groups, and the device group towhich a first terminal device belongs is determined by the UE-ID of thefirst terminal device, the access level of the first terminal device orthe configuration parameters used to represent the device group.

In a possible implementation manner, the system frame number (SFN) ofthe start system frame of the DRX indication signal cycle satisfies: mod(SFN, N×T)=K, wherein, K is a pre-configured natural number, and T isthe number of system frames comprised in the DRX cycle.

In a second aspect, there is provided a discontinuous reception method,which includes: a network device determining a target DRX period usedfor sending a discontinuous reception DRX indication signal to a firstterminal device, wherein the DRX indication signal is used to indicatethat the first terminal device wakes up or sleeps during an activeperiod of the M DRX cycles after the moment when the DRX indicationsignal is detected, the M DRX cycles are the DRX indication cycle of thefirst terminal device, and M is a positive integer; the network devicesends the DRX indication signal to the first terminal device in thetarget DRX cycle or before the target DRX cycle, so that the firstterminal device wakes up or sleeps during the active period of the M DRXcycles after the moment when the DRX indication signal is detected,according to the DRX indication signal.

Therefore, a network device notifies a terminal device that needs to bewoken up or sleep by sending the DRX indication signal at a specifictime, so that the terminal device may detect the DRX indication signalat the specific time position, and learn whether it is scheduled duringthe active period of the subsequent DRX indication cycles according tothe detected DRX indication signal, and thus remaining sleep when it isnot scheduled to further reduce power consumption. Moreover, since timepositions for different terminal devices to detect the DRX indicationsignal are different when the DRX indication signal indicates wake-upand sleep of the multiple terminal devices, interference among eachother may be reduced when different terminal devices detect the DRXindication signal, and the power consumption may be reduced accordingly.

In a possible implementation manner, the network device determining atarget DRX cycle used for sending a DRX indication signal to a firstterminal device, includes the network device determining the target DRXcycle, in a DRX indication signal cycle used for terminal device todetect a DRX indication signal, wherein the DRX indication signal cycleincludes N DRX cycles, N is a positive integer, N=M or N≠M.

In a possible implementation manner, the network device determining atarget DRX cycle used for sending a DRX indication signal, in a DRXindication signal cycle used for sending a discontinuous reception (DRX)indication signal, includes: the network device determining an offsetvalue corresponding to the first terminal device, wherein, the offsetvalue is used to indicate a position of the target DRX cycle in the DRXindication signal cycle; the network device determining the target DRXcycle in the DRX indication signal cycle, according to the offset value.

In a possible implementation manner, the network device determining anoffset value corresponding to the first terminal device, includes thenetwork device determining the offset value, according to User EquipmentIdentity UE-ID of the first terminal device.

In a possible implementation manner, the offset value is equal to mod(UE-ID, N).

In a possible implementation manner, the network device determining anoffset value corresponding to the first terminal device, includes thenetwork device determining the offset value, according to the CellIdentity Cell ID of the camping cell or the servicing cell of the firstterminal device.

In a possible implementation manner, the offset value is equal to mod(Cell ID, N).

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: thenetwork device sending first configuration information to a firstterminal device, wherein, the first configuration information is used toindicate the offset value.

In a possible implementation manner, before the network device sends theDRX indication signal to the first terminal device in the target DRXcycle or before the target DRX cycle, the method further includes: thenetwork device sending second configuration information to the firstterminal device via Radio Resource Control RRC dedicated signaling, thebroadcast signaling or the Media Access Control Control Element MAC CE,wherein, the second configuration information is used to indicate thenumber N of DRX cycles comprised in the DRX indication signal cycle.

In a possible implementation, the DRX indication signal is used toindicate that multiple terminal devices including the first terminaldevice, wake up or sleep during an active period of M DRX cycles afterthe moment when the DRX indication signal is detected.

The multiple terminal devices corresponding to N DRX cycles in the DRXindication signal cycle, and each of the N DRX cycles is used for acorresponding terminal device to detect the DRX indication signal.

In a possible implementation, the multiple terminal devices belong toone of the multiple device groups, and the device group to which thefirst terminal device belongs is determined according to the UE-ID ofthe first terminal device, the access level of the first terminal deviceor the configuration parameter used to represent the device group.

In a possible implementation, the system frame number (SFN) of the startsystem frame of the DRX indication signal cycle satisfies: mod (SFN,N×T)=K, wherein, K is a pre-configured natural number, and T is thenumber of system frames comprised in the DRX cycle.

In a third aspect, there is provided a terminal device, which mayperform the operations of a first terminal device in the foregoing firstaspect or any optional implementation manner of the first aspect. Inparticular, the terminal device may comprise a modular unit forperforming the operations of a first terminal device in the first aspector in any possible implementation manners of the first aspect.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a network device, which mayperform the operations of a network device in the foregoing secondaspect or any optional implementation manners of the second aspect. Inparticular, the network device may comprise a modular unit forperforming the operations of a network device in the second aspect or inany possible implementation manners of the second aspect.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a terminal device, the terminaldevice including: a processor, a transceiver, and a memory. Theprocessor, the transceiver, and the memory communicate with each otherthrough an internal connection path. The memory is configured to storeinstructions, and the processor is configured to execute instructionsstored by the memory. When the processor executes instructions stored bythe memory, the execution enables the terminal device to perform themethod in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of thefirst aspect, or the execution enables the terminal device to implementthe terminal device provided by the third aspect.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a network device, the networkdevice including: a processor, a transceiver, and a memory. Theprocessor, the transceiver, and the memory communicate with each otherthrough an internal connection path. The memory is configured to storeinstructions, and the processor is configured to execute instructionsstored by the memory. When the processor executes instructions stored bythe memory, the execution enables the network device to perform themethod in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of thesecond aspect, or the execution enables the network device to implementthe terminal device provided by the fourth aspect.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided a computer readable storagemedium, the computer readable storage medium storing a program enablinga terminal device to perform the first aspect of the above and any ofits various implementation manners of a discontinuous reception method.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided a computer readable storagemedium, the computer readable storage medium storing a program enablinga network device to perform the second aspect of the above and any ofits various implementation manners of a discontinuous reception method.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a system chip, which includes aninput interface, an output interface, a processor, and a memory, theprocessor is configured to execute instructions stored by the memory,and when the instruction is executed, the processor may implement thefirst aspect or any of the possible implementation manner of the firstaspect.

In a tenth aspect, there is provided a system chip, which includes aninput interface, an output interface, a processor, and a memory, theprocessor is configured to execute instructions stored by the memory,and when the instruction is executed, the processor may implement thesecond aspect or any of the possible implementation manner of the secondaspect.

In an eleventh aspect, there is provided a computer program productincluding instructions, which enables the computer to perform the firstaspect or any of the possible implementation manners of the firstaspect, when the computer program product is running on the computer.

In a twelfth aspect, there is provided a computer program productincluding instructions, which enables the computer to perform the secondaspect or any of the possible implementation manners of the secondaspect, when the computer program product is running on the computer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an application scenario ofan embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the DRX cycle.

FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a discontinuous reception methodaccording to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart of a method for determining a target DRXcycle according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a target DRX cycle of an embodiment ofthe present application.

FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart of a discontinuous reception methodaccording to another embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device according to anembodiment of the present application.

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a network device according to anembodiment of the present application.

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device accordingto an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device accordingto an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a system chip according toan embodiment of the present application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present applicationwill be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It should be understand that, the technical solutions in the embodimentsof the present application may be applied to various communicationsystems, for example, Global System of Mobile Communication (GSM)system, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, Wideband CodeDivision Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, Long Term Evolution (LTE)system, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, LTE Time DivisionDuplex (TDD), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) or future5G system.

The present application describes various embodiments in connection witha terminal device. The terminal device may refer to User Equipment (UE),access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobilestation, a mobile platform, a remote station, a remote terminal, amobile device, a user terminal, a terminal, a wireless communicationdevice, a user agent or a user apparatus. The access terminal may be acellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant(PDA), a handheld device having a wireless communication function, acomputing device or other processing device connected to a wirelessmodem, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, a terminal device in afuture 5G network, or a terminal device in an evolved Public Land MobileNetwork (PLMN) in the future.

The present application describes various embodiments in connection witha network device. The network device may be a device used to communicatewith a terminal device. For example, a network device may be a BaseTransceiver Station (BTS) in a GSM system or a CDMA system, or may be aNodeB (NB) in a WCDMA system, or may be an Evolutional Node B (eNB oreNodeB) in an LTE system, or the Network device may be a device used tocommunicate with terminal device, for example, a relay station, anaccess point, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, a network sidedevice in the future 5G network or the network device in an evolved PLMNin the future, or the like.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of anembodiment of the present application. The communication system in FIG.1 may comprise a network device 10 and a terminal device 20. The networkdevice 10 is configured to provide communication services for theterminal device 20 and access the core network. The terminal device 20may access the network by searching for synchronization signals,broadcast signals, and the like sent by the network device 10, therebyperforming communication with the network. The arrows shown in FIG. 1may represent uplink/downlink transmissions by a cellular link betweenthe terminal device 20 and the network device 10.

The network in the embodiment of the present application may refer to aPublic Land Mobile Network (PLMN) or a Device to Device (D2D) network ora Machine to Machine/Man (M2M) network or other networks. FIG. 1 is onlya simplified schematic diagram of an example, and other terminal devicesmay also be comprised in the network, which are not shown in FIG. 1.

The DRX cycle of the terminal device includes an active period (onDuration) and a sleep period (Opportunity for DRX). For example, asshown in FIG. 2, the terminal device may detect (or listening to) thePhysical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) during the active period, thatis, during the on Duration period, and the terminal device may reducepower consumption by stop receiving the PDCCH (in this case, theterminal device stops the blind detection of the PDCCH or pagingmessage) during the sleep period, that is the Opportunity for DRX cycle,thereby increasing battery life. It can be said that during the wake-upperiod, the terminal device is in the wake-up state to detect the PDCCH,and during the sleep period, the terminal device enters the sleep stateand does not detect the channels or signals.

Although the network configures the DRX cycle for the terminal device,the terminal device periodically detects the PDCCH during the activeperiod. However, the terminal device is only scheduled opportunisticallyduring the active period, and even the terminal device is scheduled onlyin a few DRX cycles when the service load is very low. For the pagingmessage using DRX mechanism, the terminal receives the paging messageless often. Therefore, after configuring the DRX mechanism, the terminaldevice may not detect the control channel during the activate period ofmost DRX cycles, but will still be woken up during the active period ofthese DRXs, thus increasing the unnecessary power consumption of theterminal device.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminaldevice detects its own DRX indication signal at a specific time, andlearns whether it is actually scheduled during the active period of thesubsequent multiple DRX cycles according to the DRX indication signal,and thus remaining sleep when it is not scheduled to further reducepower consumption. Moreover, since time positions for different terminaldevices to detect the DRX indication signal are different when the DRXindication signal indicates wake-up and sleep of the multiple terminaldevices, interference among each other may be reduced when differentterminal devices detect the DRX indication signal, and the powerconsumption may be reduced accordingly.

The embodiments of the present application may be used not only in thedetection of the PDCCH but also in the detection of the paging message.The transmission of the paging message is also a DRX mechanism in an RRCidle state. At this time, the DRX cycle is a paging cycle. A pagingframe (PF) is a specific radio frame or system frame. The terminaldevice may try to receive paging message on a specific subframe in thePF, that is, Paging Occasion (PO). A physical downlink control channel(PDCCH) that is scrambled by the Paging Radio Network Tempory Identity(P-RNTI) and indicates the paging message may be transmitted on the PO.When DRX mechanism is applied, the terminal device only needs to detectone PO per DRX cycle. That is to say, for each terminal device, only onesubframe in each DRX cycle may be used to send a paging message, PF is asystem frame for sending the paging message, and PO is the subframe usedto send the paging message in the PF.

FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a discontinuous reception methodaccording to an embodiment of the present application. The method shownin FIG. 3 may be performed by a first terminal device, which is terminaldevice 20 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the discontinuousreception method includes the following steps.

In 310, a first terminal device determines a target discontinuousreception (DRX) cycle used for the first terminal device to detect a DRXindication signal.

In 320, a first terminal device detects, during or before the target DRXcycle, a DRX indication signal sent by a network device.

The DRX indication signal being used to indicate that the first terminaldevice wakes up or sleeps during an active period of M DRX cycles afterthe moment when the DRX indication signal is detected, the M DRX cyclesbeing DRX indication cycle of the first terminal device, and M is apositive integer.

In 330, a first terminal device wakes up or sleeps during the activeperiod of the M DRX cycles after the moment when the DRX indicationsignal is detected, according to the DRX indication signal.

Specifically, after determining a target discontinuous reception (DRX)cycle, used for the first terminal device to detect a DRX indicationsignal, a first terminal device may detect the DRX indication signalsent by a network device during the target DRX cycle, for example,detect the DRX indication signal in a first subframe or a first slotduring the active period of the DRX cycle, or may detect the DRXindication signal before the target DRX cycle. The DRX indication signalis used to indicate that a first terminal device wakes up or sleepsduring the active period in the DRX indication cycle of the firstterminal device. A DRX indication cycle of a first terminal deviceincludes M DRX cycles, and the active period in a DRX indication cycleis the active period in the M DRX cycles.

That is, a DRX indication cycle of a first terminal device is theeffective duration of a DRX indication signal detected by a firstterminal device in a target DRX cycle or before a target DRX cycle, andthe DRX indication signal may indicate the wake-up and sleep of aterminal device in its DRX indication cycle (i.e., the following M DRXcycles). A DRX indication cycle of different terminal devices may be thesame or different. The specific value of M may be configured by anetwork device for a terminal device, or may be the pre-existing valuein a terminal device agreed by a network device and a terminal device.

Optionally, in 310, a first terminal device determining a targetdiscontinuous reception (DRX) cycle, used for the first terminal deviceto detect a DRX indication signal, includes: a first terminal devicedetermining the target DRX cycle, in a DRX indication signal cycle forperforming DRX indication signal detection, wherein the DRX indicationsignal cycle includes N DRX cycles, N is a positive integer, N=M or N≠M.

Specifically, the DRX indication signal cycle is configured, the DRXindication signal cycle is used for a set of terminal devices to detecta DRX indication signal, wherein, a DRX indication signal cycle includesN DRX cycles, and a first terminal device of this set of terminaldevices determines that in which DRX indication cycle of the DRXindication signal cycles it may detect the DRX indication signal, Afterdetermining a target DRX cycle for detecting the DRX indication signalin a DRX indication signal cycle, a first terminal device detects a DRXindication signal in the target DRX cycle or before the target DRXcycle, and wakes up or sleeps during the active period of the M DRXcycles after the moment when the DRX indication signal is detected,according to the indication of the DRX indication signal.

It should be understood that in the embodiment of the presentapplication, the DRX cycle, the DRX indication cycle and the DRXindication signal cycle have different meanings. A DRX cycle is the timecycle shown in FIG. 2; a DRX indication cycle includes M DRX cycles,indicating that a terminal device may perform the detecting of the DRXindication signal, that is, wake-up or sleep, in the next DRX indicationcycle after detecting a DRX indication signal; A DRX indication signalcycle includes N DRX cycles, and the DRX indication signal cycle is usedfor a set of terminal devices to detect a DRX indication signal, anddifferent DRX cycles in the N DRX cycles may be respectively used fordifferent terminal devices to perform DRX indication signals. M may ormay not be equal to N.

Optionally, the system frame number (SFN) of the start system frame(referred to as a frame) of the DRX indication signal cycle satisfies:mod (SFN, N×T)=K, wherein, K is a pre-configured natural number (i.e., Kis 0 or a positive integer), and T is the number of system framescomprised in the DRX cycle.

For example, preferably, when K=0, the DRX indication signal cycle is atime period in which the start frame satisfies mod (SFN, N×T1)=0 and thelength is equal to N×T. If N=4, then SFN=0, then SFN=4×T, then SFN=8×T .. . , SFN=N×T may be used as the start frame of the DRX indicationsignal cycle.

For another example, when K=1, the DRX indication signal cycle is a timeperiod in which the start frame satisfies mod (SFN, N×T1)=1 and thelength is equal to N×T. If N=4, then SFN=0, then SFN=4×T, then SFN=8×T .. . , SFN=N×T+1 may be used as the start frame of the DRX indicationsignal cycle.

Optionally, as shown in FIG. 4, 310 includes 311 and 312.

In 311, a first terminal device determines an offset value correspondingto the first terminal device, wherein, the offset value is used toindicate a location of the target DRX cycle in the DRX indication signalcycle.

In 312, a first terminal device determines the target DRX cycle in theDRX indication signal cycle according to the offset value.

For example, it is assumed that N=4, that is, the DRX indication signalcycle includes 4 DRX cycles. The offset value of 0 indicates that atarget DRX cycle used for a first terminal device to detect the DRXindication signal is a first DRX cycle of the N DRX cycles; The offsetvalue of 1 indicates that the target DRX cycle is the second DRX cycleof the N DRX cycles; The offset value of 2 indicates that the target DRXcycle is the third DRX cycle of the N DRX cycles; The offset value of 3indicates that the target DRX cycle is the fourth DRX cycle of the N DRXcycles.

The embodiment of the present application proposes three manners for afirst terminal device to determine the corresponding offset value, whichis specifically described below.

Manner 1

Optionally, in 311, a first terminal device determining an offset valuecorresponding to the first terminal device, includes: a first terminaldevice determining the offset value, according to User EquipmentIdentity (UE-ID) of the first terminal device.

For example, the offset value corresponding to the first terminal deviceis mod (UE-ID, N), or writing as (UE-ID) mod N. N is the number of DRXcycles comprised in a DRX indication cycle, and mod is the remainder.

Manner 2

Optionally, in 311, a first terminal device determining an offset valuecorresponding to the first terminal device, includes: the first terminaldevice determining the offset value, according to a cell identifier(Cell ID) of the camping cell or the serving cell of a first terminaldevice.

For example, the offset value corresponding to the first terminal deviceis mod (Cell ID, N), or writing as (Cell ID) mod N. N is the number ofDRX cycles comprised in a DRX indication cycle, and mod is theremainder.

Manner 3

Optionally, in 311, a first terminal device determining the offset valuecorresponding to the first terminal device, includes: a first terminaldevice receiving a first configuration information sent by the networkdevice, wherein the first configuration information is used to indicatethe offset value.

After determining the corresponding offset value based on one of theforegoing three manners, a first terminal device determines a target DRXcycle used for a first terminal device to detect the DRX indicationsignal in the DRX indication cycle according to the offset value.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5, it is assumed that N=4, that is, oneDRX indication signal cycle includes four DRX cycles, and if a firstterminal device determines that the offset value corresponding to afirst terminal device is 0, a first terminal device will detect the DRXindication signal before a first DRX cycle of the DRX indication signalcycle, and the first DRX cycle of the DRX indication signal cycle beinga target DRX cycle of a first terminal device. If the DRX indicationsignal indicates that a first terminal device sleeps during the activeperiod of the M DRX cycles in the DRX indication cycle after the momentwhen the DRX indication signal is detected, a terminal device may be inthe sleep state during the whole active period of the M DRX cycles. WhenM=4, a DRX indication cycle of a first terminal device is the same asthe DRX indication signal cycle.

Similarly, if a first terminal device determines that the offset valuecorresponding to a first terminal device is 1, a first terminal devicemay detect the DRX indication signal before the second DRX cycle in theDRX indication signal cycle, if the DRX indication signal indicateswake-up, then a first terminal device is in the wake-up state during theactive period of the M DRX cycles in a DRX indication cycle after themoment when the DRX indication signal is detected.

It can be seen from the description of FIG. 5 that a DRX indicationsignal detected by a terminal device may indicate all at once thewake-up and sleep of a terminal device in the M DRX cycles, that is, theDRX indication cycle corresponding to a first terminal device. Thelocation of the DRX indication cycle may also be different for terminaldevices using different target DRX cycles.

Optionally, before 310, that is, before a first terminal devicedetermines a target DRX cycle used for the first terminal device todetect a DRX indication signal, the method further includes: a firstterminal device receiving the second configuration information sent by anetwork device via the Radio Resource Control (RRC) dedicated signaling,the broadcast signaling, or the Media Access Control (MAC) ControlElement (CE), wherein, the second configuration information is used toindicate the length of the DRX indication signal cycle, that is, thenumber of DRX cycle N comprised in the DRX indication signal cycle.

For example, a DRX indication signal related to the paging message maybe notified by a network device to a first terminal device relatedconfiguration information, such as the first configuration informationand/or the second configuration information, by using RRC signalingduring the power-on and attachment process.

For another example, for a first terminal device in the connected state,a network device may notify a first terminal device of the relevantconfiguration information, such as the first configuration informationand/or the second configuration information, by using RRC dedicatedsignaling or a MAC CE.

Optionally, in 320, the DRX indication signal is used to indicate thatmultiple terminal devices including a first terminal device, wake up orsleep during an active period of M DRX cycles after the moment when theDRX indication signal is detected.

The plurality of terminal devices correspond to N DRX cycles in the DRXindication signal cycle, and each of the N DRX cycles is used for thecorresponding terminal device to detect the DRX indication signal.

Optionally, the multiple terminal devices belong to one of the multipledevice groups, and the device group to which a first terminal devicebelongs is determined by the UE-ID of the first terminal device, theaccess level of the first terminal device or the configurationparameters used to represent the device group.

Specifically, a network device may simultaneously indicate the wake-upand sleep of a plurality of terminal devices belonging to one of themultiple device groups. The plurality of terminal devices in the devicegroup may be further divided into N subsets, the N subsets correspondingto N DRX cycles in the DRX indication signal cycle, and the terminaldevice in each subset detects the DRX indication signal in thecorresponding DRX cycle, and determines whether to sleep or wake upaccording to the indication of the DRX indication signal, in the N DRXcycles after the moment when the DRX is detected.

That is, a network device sends a DRX indication signal in the N DRXcycles during the DRX indication signal cycle, but the DRX indicationsignals sent during each of the N DRX cycles are for terminal devices insubsets corresponding to each DRX cycle. If a DRX indication signal sentby a network device on a certain DRX cycle indicates wake-up, a terminaldevice that detected the DRX indication signal on the DRX cycle willwake up in the active period of the DRX indication cycle after themoment when the DRX indication signal is detected, wherein the DRXindication cycle includes M DRX cycles; if a DRX indication signal sentby a network device on a certain DRX cycle indicates sleep, a terminaldevice that detected the DRX indication signal on the DRX cycle willsleep in the active period of the DRX indication cycle after the momentwhen the DRX indication signal is detected.

The reason why the DRX indication signal cycle is set and the time atwhich the different terminal device detects the DRX indication signal isset to a different DRX cycle in the DRX indication signal cycle is asfollows. When a network device simultaneously indicates wake-up or sleepof a group of terminal devices, if there are only a few or even just oneterminal device among the multiple terminal devices in this group needto be woken up, a network device also sends the DRX indication signal tothe multiple terminal devices simultaneously, so that other terminaldevices without data transmission also need to be woken up, whichaffects the power consumption of other terminal devices.

In the embodiment of the present application, a DRX indication signalsent by a network device in the target DRX cycle may indicate wake-up orsleep of terminal devices belonging to the same device group, butdifferent terminal devices in the device group may detect the DRXindication signal on different DRX cycles in the DRX indication signalcycle. Since the time positions of the different terminal devices in thedevice group detecting the DRX indication signal are different, theterminal device that does not detect the DRX indication signal avoidsunnecessary wake-up, thereby reducing the power consumption.

Even if grouped into the same device group, the terminal device in thedevice group may detect the DRX indication signal at different times,for example, the different DRX cycles corresponding to the differentoffset values, so as to reduce mutual influence among the terminaldevices in the same device group when detecting the DRX indicationsignal.

For example, the device group to which a first terminal device belongsincludes 8 terminal devices, and one DRX indication signal cycleincludes four DRX cycles. Then, each of the four DRX cycles maycorrespond to two terminal devices, that is, each DRX cycle is used onlyfor the corresponding two terminal devices to detect the DRX indicationsignal. In which DRX cycle does each of the eight terminal devicesdetect the DRX indication signal? For example, the terminal devices maydetermine the corresponding offset values by the foregoing threemanners, and determine in which DRX cycle it will detect the DRXindication signal according to the offset value. For example, as shownin Table 1, it is assumed that the DRX cycle corresponding to eachterminal device is determined according to the UE-ID, and the terminaldevice 1 and the terminal device 4 detect the DRX indication signal inthe first DRX cycle, and the terminal device 2 and the terminal device 5detect the DRX indication signal in the second DRX cycle, and theterminal device 3 and the terminal device 6 detect the DRX indicationsignal in the third DRX cycle, and the terminal device 4 and theterminal device 8 detect the DRX indication signal in the fourth DRXcycle.

TABLE 1 4 DRX Cycles in DRX Indication Cycle 8 Terminal Devices in theDevice Group First DRX cycle Terminal Device 1 and Terminal Device 4Second DRX cycle Terminal Device 2 and Terminal Device 5 Third DRX cycleTerminal Device 3 and Terminal Device 6 Fourth DRX cycle Terminal Device4 and Terminal Device 8

Assuming that a first terminal device is the terminal device 2 here, theterminal device 2 may be in the wake-up state during the active periodof its DRX indication cycle, and its DRX indication cycle may comprise,for example, M DRX cycles starting from a second DRX cycle or includingthe M DRX cycles starting from the next DRX cycle, that is, a third DRXcycle. At this time, since only the terminal device 5 and the terminaldevice 2 detect the DRX indication signal in a second DRX cycle, onlythe terminal device 5 and the terminal device 2 are woken up, and otherterminal devices that do not need to be woken up will not be woken up.Compared with the process that 8 terminal devices simultaneously detectthe DRX indication signal and are simultaneously woken up, the processthat different terminal devices detect the DRX indication signal indifferent DRX cycles greatly reduces the power consumption of theterminal devices that do not detect the DRX indication signal in thesecond DRX cycle.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, the terminaldevice detects its own DRX indication signal at a specific time, andlearns whether it is scheduled during the active period of thesubsequent DRX indication cycles according to the detected DRXindication signal, and thus remaining sleep when it is not scheduled tofurther reduce power consumption. Moreover, since time positions fordifferent terminal devices to detect the DRX indication signal aredifferent when the DRX indication signal indicates wake-up and sleep ofthe multiple terminal devices, interference among each other may bereduced when different terminal devices detect the DRX indicationsignal, and the power consumption may be reduced accordingly.

FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart of a discontinuous reception methodaccording to an embodiment of the present application. The method shownin FIG. 6 may be performed by a network device, which may be the networkdevice 10 shown in FIG. 1 for example. As shown in FIG. 6, thediscontinuous reception method includes the following steps.

In 610, a network device determines a target DRX cycle used for sendinga discontinuous reception (DRX) indication signal to a first terminaldevice.

The DRX indication signal is used to indicate that the first terminaldevice wakes up or sleeps during an active period of M DRX cycles afterthe moment when the DRX indication signal is detected, the M DRX cyclesis DRX indication cycle of the first terminal device, and M is apositive integer.

In 620, the network device sends the DRX indication signal to the firstterminal device in the target DRX cycle or before the target DRX cycle,so that the first terminal device wakes up or sleeps during the activeperiod of the M DRX cycles after the moment when the DRX indicationsignal is detected, according to the DRX indication signal.

Optionally, the network device determining a target DRX cycle used forsending a DRX indication signal to a first terminal device, includes thenetwork device determining the target DRX cycle, in a DRX indicationsignal cycle used for terminal device to detect a DRX indication signal,wherein the DRX indication signal cycle includes N DRX cycles, N is apositive integer, N=M or N≠M.

Specifically, the DRX indication signal cycle is configured, the DRXindication signal cycle is used for sending a DRX indication signal to aset of terminal devices, wherein, a DRX indication signal cycle includesN DRX cycles. A network device sends a corresponding DRX indicationsignal in the N DRX cycles, wherein the terminal device that receivesthe DRX indication signal may wake up or sleep during the active periodof the M DRX cycles (i.e., the DRX indication cycle of a first terminaldevice) after the moment when the DRX indication signal is detected,according to the DRX indication signal. Different terminal devices inthis set of terminal devices can detect the DRX indication signal indifferent DRX cycles of the DRX indication signal cycle. For example, ifa network device needs to notify a first terminal device in this set ofterminal devices to wake up, a network device determines a target DRXcycle used for a first terminal device to detect a DRX indication signalin the DRX indication signal cycle, and sends a DRX indication signalused for indicating wake-up in the target DRX cycle. Then a firstterminal device detects the DRX indication signal in the target DRXcycle, and wakes up during the active period of the M DRX cycles (i.e.,the DRX indication cycle of a first terminal device) after the momentwhen the DRX indication signal is detected, according to the DRXindication signal.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, a networkdevice notifies a terminal device that needs to be woken up or sleep bysending the DRX indication signal at a specific time, so that theterminal device may detect the DRX indication signal at the specifictime position, and learn whether it is scheduled during the activeperiod of the subsequent DRX indication cycles according to the detectedDRX indication signal, and thus remaining sleep when it is not scheduledto further reduce power consumption. Moreover, since time positions fordifferent terminal devices to detect the DRX indication signal aredifferent when the DRX indication signal indicates wake-up and sleep ofthe multiple terminal devices, interference among each other may bereduced when different terminal devices detect the DRX indicationsignal, and the power consumption may be reduced accordingly.

Optionally, the network device determining a target DRX cycle used forsending a DRX indication signal, in a DRX indication signal cycle usedfor sending a discontinuous reception (DRX) indication signal, includes:the network device determining an offset value corresponding to thefirst terminal device, wherein, the offset value is used to indicate aposition of the target DRX cycle in the DRX indication signal cycle; thenetwork device determining the target DRX cycle in the DRX indicationsignal cycle, according to the offset value.

Optionally, the network device determining an offset value correspondingto the first terminal device, includes the network device determiningthe offset value, according to User Equipment Identity UE-ID of thefirst terminal device.

Optionally, the offset value is equal to mod (UE-ID, N).

Optionally, the network device determining an offset value correspondingto the first terminal device, includes the network device determiningthe offset value, according to the Cell Identity Cell ID of the campingcell or the servicing cell of the first terminal device.

Optionally, the offset value is equal to mod (Cell ID, N).

Optionally, the method further includes: the network device sendingfirst configuration information to a first terminal device, wherein, thefirst configuration information is used to indicate the offset value.

Optionally, before the network device sending the DRX indication signalto the first terminal device in the target DRX cycle, the method furtherincludes: the network device sending second configuration information tothe first terminal device via Radio Resource Control RRC dedicatedsignaling, the broadcast signaling or the Media Access Control ControlElement MAC CE, wherein, the second configuration information is used toindicate the number N of DRX cycles comprised in the DRX indicationsignal cycle.

Optionally, the DRX indication signal is used to indicate that multipleterminal devices including the first terminal device, wake up or sleepduring an active period of M DRX cycles after the moment when the DRXindication signal is detected.

The multiple terminal devices corresponding to N DRX cycles in the DRXindication signal cycle, and each of the N DRX cycles is used for acorresponding terminal device to detect the DRX indication signal.

Optionally, the multiple terminal devices belong to one of the multipledevice groups, and the device group to which the first terminal devicebelongs is determined according to the UE-ID of the first terminaldevice, the access level of the first terminal device or theconfiguration parameter used to represent the device grouping.

Optionally, the DRX indication signal cycle satisfies T2=mod(SFN, M×T1),wherein, SFN is a system frame number of a system frame in which the DRXindication signal cycle is located, and T2 is the length of the DRXindication signal cycle, T1 is the length of the DRX cycle.

It should be understood that the specific details of a network device indetermining a target DRX cycle and the process of sending a DRXindication signal may be referred to the related description of theterminal device in FIG. 3 to FIG. 5, and details are not describedherein again for brevity.

It should also be understood that in the various embodiments of thisapplication, the sequence number of the above mentioned processes doesnot mean the sequence of implementation, and the sequence ofimplementation of each process shall be determined by its function andinternal logic, and shall not constitute any limitation on theimplementation process of this application embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of terminal device 700 according toan embodiment of the present application. The terminal device is a firstterminal device. As shown in FIG. 7, the first terminal device 700includes a determining unit 710, a transceiver unit 720, and aprocessing unit 730.

The determining unit 710 is configured to determine a target DRX cycleused for the first terminal device to detect a discontinuous reception(DRX) indication signal.

The transceiver unit 720 is configured to detect a DRX indication signalsent by a network device, in or before the target DRX cycle determinedby the determining unit 710, wherein, the DRX indication signal is usedto indicate that the first terminal device wakes up or sleeps during anactive period of the M DRX cycles after the moment when the DRXindication signal is detected, the M DRX cycles are the DRX indicationcycle of the first terminal device, and M is a positive integer.

The processing unit 730 is configured to wake up or sleep during theactive period of the M DRX cycles after the moment when the DRXindication signal is detected, according to the DRX indication signaldetected by the transceiver unit 720.

Therefore, the terminal device detects its own DRX indication signal ata specific time, and learns whether it is scheduled during the activeperiod of the subsequent DRX indication cycles according to the detectedDRX indication signal, and thus remaining sleep when it is not scheduledto further reduce power consumption. Moreover, since time positions fordifferent terminal devices to detect the DRX indication signal aredifferent when the DRX indication signal indicates wake-up and sleep ofthe multiple terminal devices, interference among each other may bereduced when different terminal devices detect the DRX indicationsignal, and the power consumption may be reduced accordingly.

Optionally, the determining unit 710 is specifically configured todetermine the target DRX cycle, in a DRX indication signal cycle usedfor detecting a DRX indication signal, wherein the DRX indication signalcycle includes N DRX cycles, N is a positive integer, N=M or N≠M.

Optionally, the determining unit 710 is specifically configured todetermine an offset value corresponding to the first terminal device,wherein, the offset value is used to indicate a position of the targetDRX cycle in the DRX indication signal cycle; determine the target DRXcycle in the DRX indication signal cycle, according to the offset value.

Optionally, the determining unit 710 is specifically configured todetermine the offset value, according to User Equipment Identity UE-IDof the first terminal device.

Optionally, the offset value is equal to mod (UE-ID, N).

Optionally, the determining unit 710 is specifically configured todetermine the offset value, according to the Cell Identity Cell ID ofthe camping cell or the servicing cell of the first terminal device.

Optionally, the offset value is equal to mod (Cell ID, N).

Optionally, the determining unit 710 is specifically configured toreceive first configuration information sent by the network device viathe transceiver unit 720, wherein, the first configuration informationis used to indicate the offset value.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 720 is further configured to receivesecond configuration information sent by the network device via RadioResource Control RRC dedicated signaling, the broadcast signaling or theMedia Access Control Control Element MAC CE, wherein, the secondconfiguration information is used to indicate the number N of DRX cyclescomprised in the DRX indication signal cycle.

Optionally, the DRX indication signal is used to indicate that multipleterminal devices including the first terminal device, wake up or sleepduring an active period of M DRX cycles after the moment when the DRXindication signal is detected.

The multiple terminal devices corresponding to N DRX cycles in the DRXindication signal cycle, and each of the N DRX cycles is used for acorresponding terminal device to detect the DRX indication signal.

Optionally, the multiple terminal devices belong to one of the multipledevice groups, and the device group to which the first terminal devicebelongs is determined according to the UE-ID of the first terminaldevice, the access level of the first terminal device or theconfiguration parameter used to represent the device grouping.

Optionally, the DRX indication signal cycle satisfies T2=mod(SFN, M×T1),wherein, SFN is a system frame number of a system frame in which the DRXindication signal cycle is located, and T2 is the length of the DRXindication signal cycle, T1 is the length of the DRX cycle.

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of network device 800 according toan embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 8, thenetwork device 800 includes a determining unit 810 and a transceiverunit 820.

The determining unit 810 is configured to determine a target DRX cycleused for a first terminal device to detect a discontinuous reception(DRX) indication signal, the DRX indication signal being used toindicate that the first terminal device wakes up or sleeps during anactive period of M DRX cycles after the moment when the DRX indicationsignal is detected, the M DRX cycles being DRX indication cycle of thefirst terminal device, and M is a positive integer.

The transceiver unit 820 is configured to send the DRX indication signalto the first terminal device in or before the target DRX cycledetermined by the determining unit 810, so that the first terminaldevice wakes up or sleeps during the active period of the M DRX cyclesafter the moment when the DRX indication signal is detected, accordingto the DRX indication signal.

Therefore, a network device notifies a terminal device that needs to bewoken up or sleep by sending the DRX indication signal at a specifictime, so that the terminal device may detect the DRX indication signalat the specific time position, and learn whether it is scheduled duringthe active period of the subsequent DRX indication cycles according tothe detected DRX indication signal, and thus remaining sleep when it isnot scheduled to further reduce power consumption. Moreover, since timepositions for different terminal devices to detect the DRX indicationsignal are different when the DRX indication signal indicates wake-upand sleep of the multiple terminal devices, interference among eachother may be reduced when different terminal devices detect the DRXindication signal, and the power consumption may be reduced accordingly.

Optionally, the determining unit 810 is specifically configured todetermine the target DRX cycle, in a DRX indication signal cycle usedfor a terminal device to detect a DRX indication signal, wherein the DRXindication signal cycle includes N DRX cycles, N is a positive integer,N=M or N≠M.

Optionally, the determining unit 810 is specifically configured todetermine an offset value corresponding to the first terminal device,wherein, the offset value is used to indicate a position of the targetDRX cycle in the DRX indication signal cycle; determine the target DRXcycle in the DRX indication signal cycle, according to the offset value.

Optionally, the determining unit 810 is specifically configured todetermine the offset value, according to User Equipment Identity UE-IDof the first terminal device.

Optionally, the offset value is equal to mod (UE-ID, N).

Optionally, the determining unit 810 is specifically configured todetermine the offset value, according to the Cell Identity Cell ID ofthe camping cell or the servicing cell of the first terminal device.

Optionally, the offset value is equal to mod (Cell ID, N).

Optionally, the transceiver unit 820 is further configured to send firstconfiguration information to a first terminal device, wherein, the firstconfiguration information is used to indicate the offset value.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 820 is further configured to sendsecond configuration information to the first terminal device via RadioResource Control RRC dedicated signaling, the broadcast signaling or theMedia Access Control Control Element MAC CE, wherein, the secondconfiguration information is used to indicate the number N of DRX cyclescomprised in the DRX indication signal cycle.

Optionally, the DRX indication signal is used to indicate that multipleterminal devices including the first terminal device, wake up or sleepduring an active period of M DRX cycles after the moment when the DRXindication signal is detected.

The multiple terminal devices corresponding to N DRX cycles in the DRXindication signal cycle, and each of the N DRX cycles is used for acorresponding terminal device to detect the DRX indication signal.

Optionally, the multiple terminal devices belong to one of the multipledevice groups, and the device group to which the first terminal devicebelongs is determined according to the UE-ID of the first terminaldevice, the access level of the first terminal device or theconfiguration parameter used to represent the device grouping.

Optionally, the DRX indication signal cycle satisfies T2=mod(SFN, M×T1),wherein, SFN is a system frame number of a system frame in which the DRXindication signal cycle is located, and T2 is the length of the DRXindication signal cycle, T1 is the length of the DRX cycle.

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of terminal device 900according to an embodiment of the present application. The terminaldevice is a first terminal device. As shown in FIG. 9, the firstterminal device includes a processor 910, a transceiver 920, and amemory 930, wherein the processor 910, the transceiver 920, and thememory 930 communicate with each other through an internal connectionpath. The memory 930 is configured to store instructions, and theprocessor 910 is configured to execute instructions stored by the memory930 to control the transceiver 920 to receive signals or transmitsignals.

The processor 910 is configured to determine a target DRX cycle used forthe first terminal device to detect a discontinuous reception (DRX)indication signal.

The transceiver unit 920 is configured to detect a DRX indication signalsent by a network device, in or before the target DRX cycle determinedby the processor 910, wherein, the DRX indication signal is used toindicate that the first terminal device wakes up or sleeps during anactive period of the M DRX cycles after the moment when the DRXindication signal is detected, the M DRX cycles are the DRX indicationcycle of the first terminal device, and M is a positive integer.

The processor 910 is further configured to wake up or sleep during theactive period of the M DRX cycles after the moment when the DRXindication signal is detected, according to the DRX indication signaldetected by the transceiver 920.

Therefore, the terminal device detects its own DRX indication signal ata specific time, and learns whether it is scheduled during the activeperiod of the subsequent DRX indication cycles according to the detectedDRX indication signal, and thus remaining sleep when it is not scheduledto further reduce power consumption. Moreover, since time positions fordifferent terminal devices to detect the DRX indication signal aredifferent when the DRX indication signal indicates wake-up and sleep ofthe multiple terminal devices, interference among each other may bereduced when different terminal devices detect the DRX indicationsignal, and the power consumption may be reduced accordingly.

Optionally, the processor 910 is specifically configured to determinethe target DRX cycle, in a DRX indication signal cycle used fordetecting a DRX indication signal, wherein the DRX indication signalcycle includes N DRX cycles, N is a positive integer, N=M or N≠M.

Optionally, the processor 910 is specifically configured to determine anoffset value corresponding to the first terminal device, wherein, theoffset value is used to indicate a position of the target DRX cycle inthe DRX indication signal cycle; determine the target DRX cycle in theDRX indication signal cycle, according to the offset value.

Optionally, the processor 910 is specifically configured to determinethe offset value, according to User Equipment Identity UE-ID of thefirst terminal device.

Optionally, the offset value is equal to mod (UE-ID, N).

Optionally, the processor 910 is specifically configured to determinethe offset value, according to the Cell Identity Cell ID of the campingcell or the servicing cell of the first terminal device.

Optionally, the offset value is equal to mod (Cell ID, N).

Optionally, the processor 910 is specifically configured to receivefirst configuration information sent by the network device via thetransceiver 920, wherein, the first configuration information is used toindicate the offset value.

Optionally, the transceiver 920 is further configured to receive secondconfiguration information sent by the network device via Radio ResourceControl RRC dedicated signaling, the broadcast signaling or the MediaAccess Control Control Element MAC CE, wherein, the second configurationinformation is used to indicate the number N of DRX cycles comprised inthe DRX indication signal cycle.

Optionally, the DRX indication signal is used to indicate that multipleterminal devices including the first terminal device, wake up or sleepduring an active period of M DRX cycles after the moment when the DRXindication signal is detected.

The multiple terminal devices corresponding to N DRX cycles in the DRXindication signal cycle, and each of the N DRX cycles is used for acorresponding terminal device to detect the DRX indication signal.

Optionally, the multiple terminal devices belong to one of the multipledevice groups, and the device group to which the first terminal devicebelongs is determined according to the UE-ID of the first terminaldevice, the access level of the first terminal device or theconfiguration parameter used to represent the device grouping.

Optionally, the DRX indication signal cycle satisfies T2=mod(SFN, M×T1),wherein, SFN is a system frame number of a system frame in which the DRXindication signal cycle is located, and T2 is the length of the DRXindication signal cycle, T1 is the length of the DRX cycle.

It should be understood that, in the embodiment of the presentapplication, the processor 910 may be a central processing unit (CPU),and the processor 910 may also be a general-purpose processor, a digitalsignal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmablelogic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discretehardware component, etc. The general-purpose processor may be amicroprocessor or any regular processor, etc.

The memory 930 may comprise read only memory and random access memoryand provide instructions and data to the processor 910. A portion of thememory 930 may also include a non-volatile random access memory.

In the implementation process, each step of the foregoing method may becompleted by an integrated logic circuit of hardware or an instructionin a form of software in the processor 910. The steps of the positioningmethod disclosed in the embodiment of the present application may bedirectly implemented by the hardware processor, or may be performed by acombination of hardware and software modules in the processor 910. Thesoftware module may be located in a conventional storage medium such asrandom access memory, flash memory, read only memory, programmable readonly memory or electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, andthe like. The storage medium is located in the memory 930, and theprocessor 910 reads the information in the memory 930 and completes thesteps of the above method in combination with its hardware. To avoidrepetition, it will not be described in detail here.

The terminal device 900 according to the embodiment of the presentapplication may correspond to the terminal device for performing themethod 300 in the foregoing method 300, and the terminal device 700according to the embodiment of the present application, and each unit ormodule in the terminal device 900 is used to perform each action orprocessing performed by the terminal device in method 300 respectively.Here, in order to avoid redundancy, detailed description thereof will beomitted.

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of network device 1000according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG.10, the network device includes a processor 1010, a transceiver 1020,and a memory 1030, wherein the processor 1010, the transceiver 1020, andthe memory 1030 communicate with each other through an internalconnection path. The memory 1030 is configured to store instructions,and the processor 1010 is configured to execute instructions stored bythe memory 1030 to control the transceiver 1020 to receive signals ortransmit signals.

The processor 1010 is configured to determine a target DRX cycle usedfor sending a discontinuous reception (DRX) indication signal to a firstterminal device in the discontinuous reception DRX indication cycle,wherein, the DRX indication cycle is used for the first terminal deviceto detect DRX indication signal, the DRX indication cycle includes N DRXcycles, the DRX indication signal is used to indicate that the firstterminal device wakes up or sleeps during an active period of M DRXcycles after the moment when the DRX indication signal is detected, N isa positive integer.

The transceiver 1020 is configured to send the DRX indication signal tothe first terminal device in or before the target DRX cycle determinedby the processor 1010, so that the first terminal device wakes up orsleeps during the active period of N DRX cycles after the moment whenthe DRX indication signal is detected, according to the DRX indicationsignal.

Therefore, a network device notifies a terminal device that needs to bewoken up or sleep by sending the DRX indication signal at a specifictime, so that the terminal device may detect the DRX indication signalat the specific time position, and learn whether it is scheduled duringthe active period of the subsequent DRX indication cycles according tothe detected DRX indication signal, and thus remaining sleep when it isnot scheduled to further reduce power consumption. Moreover, since timepositions for different terminal devices to detect the DRX indicationsignal are different when the DRX indication signal indicates wake-upand sleep of the multiple terminal devices, interference among eachother may be reduced when different terminal devices detect the DRXindication signal, and the power consumption may be reduced accordingly.

Optionally, the processor 1010 is specifically configured to determinethe target DRX cycle, in a DRX indication signal cycle used for aterminal device to detect a DRX indication signal, wherein the DRXindication signal cycle includes N DRX cycles, N is a positive integer,N=M or N≠M.

Optionally, the processor 1010 is specifically configured to determinean offset value corresponding to the first terminal device, wherein, theoffset value is used to indicate a position of the target DRX cycle inthe DRX indication signal cycle; determine the target DRX cycle in theDRX indication signal cycle, according to the offset value.

Optionally, the processor 1010 is specifically configured to determinethe offset value, according to User Equipment Identity UE-ID of thefirst terminal device.

Optionally, the offset value is equal to mod (UE-ID, N).

Optionally, the processor 1010 is specifically configured to determinethe offset value, according to the Cell Identity Cell ID of the campingcell or the servicing cell of the first terminal device.

Optionally, the offset value is equal to mod (Cell ID, N).

Optionally, the transceiver 1020 is further configured to send firstconfiguration information to a first terminal device, wherein, the firstconfiguration information is used to indicate the offset value.

Optionally, the transceiver 1020 is further configured to send secondconfiguration information to the first terminal device via RadioResource Control RRC dedicated signaling, the broadcast signaling or theMedia Access Control Control Element MAC CE, wherein, the secondconfiguration information is used to indicate the number N of DRX cyclescomprised in the DRX indication signal cycle.

Optionally, the DRX indication signal is used to indicate that multipleterminal devices including the first terminal device, wake up or sleepduring an active period of M DRX cycles after the moment when the DRXindication signal is detected.

The multiple terminal devices corresponding to N DRX cycles in the DRXindication signal cycle, and each of the N DRX cycles is used for acorresponding terminal device to detect the DRX indication signal.

Optionally, the multiple terminal devices belong to one of the multipledevice groups, and the device group to which the first terminal devicebelongs is determined according to the UE-ID of the first terminaldevice, the access level of the first terminal device or theconfiguration parameter used to represent the device grouping.

Optionally, the DRX indication signal cycle satisfies T2=mod(SFN, M×T1),wherein, SFN is a system frame number of a system frame in which the DRXindication signal cycle is located, and T2 is the length of the DRXindication signal cycle, T1 is the length of the DRX cycle.

It should be understood that, in the embodiment of the presentapplication, the processor 1010 may be a central processing unit (CPU),and the processor 1010 may also be a general-purpose processor, adigital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or otherprogrammable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device,discrete hardware component, etc. The general-purpose processor may be amicroprocessor or any regular processor, etc.

The memory 1030 may comprise read only memory and random access memoryand provide instructions and data to the processor 1010. A portion ofthe memory 1030 may also include a non-volatile random access memory. Inthe implementation process, each step of the foregoing method may becompleted by an integrated logic circuit of hardware or an instructionin a form of software in the processor 1010. The steps of thepositioning method disclosed in the embodiment of the presentapplication may be directly implemented by the hardware processor, ormay be performed by a combination of hardware and software modules inthe processor 1010. The software module may be located in a conventionalstorage medium such as random access memory, flash memory, read onlymemory, programmable read only memory or electrically erasableprogrammable memory, registers, and the like. The storage medium islocated in the memory 1030, and the processor 1010 reads the informationin the memory 1030 and completes the steps of the above method incombination with its hardware. To avoid repetition, it will not bedescribed in detail here.

The network device 1000 according to the embodiment of the presentapplication may correspond to the network device for performing themethod 600 in the foregoing method 600, and the network device 800according to the embodiment of the present application, and each unit ormodule in the network device 1000 is used to perform each action orprocessing performed by the network device in method 600 respectively.Here, in order to avoid redundancy, detailed description thereof will beomitted.

FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a system chip according toan embodiment of the present application. The system chip 1100 of FIG.11 includes an input interface 1101, an output interface 1102, at leastone processor 1103 and a memory 1104. The input interface 1101, theoutput interface 1102, the processor 1103, and the memory 1104 areinterconnected by an internal connection path. The processor 1103 isconfigured to execute code in the memory 1104.

Optionally, when the code is executed, the processor 1103 may implementthe method 300 performed by a first terminal device in the methodembodiment. To avoid repetition, it will not be described in detailhere.

Optionally, when the code is executed, the processor 1103 may implementthe method 600 performed by a network device in the method embodiment.To avoid repetition, it will not be described in detail here.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the elements andalgorithm steps of the various examples described in connection with theembodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardwareor a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whetherthese functions are performed in hardware or software depends on thespecific application and design constraints of the solution. A personskilled in the art may use different methods to implement the describedfunctions for each particular application, but such implementationshould not be considered to be beyond the scope of the presentapplication.

A person skilled in the art can clearly understand that for theconvenience and brevity of the description, the specific working processof the system, the device and the unit described above may refer to thecorresponding process in the foregoing method embodiment, and detailsare not described herein again.

In the several embodiments provided by the present application, itshould be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methodsmay be implemented in other manners. For example, the device embodimentsdescribed above are merely illustrative. For example, the division ofthe unit is only a logical function division. In actual implementation,there may be another division manner, for example, multiple units orcomponents may be combined or may be integrate into another system, orsome features may be ignored or not executed. In addition, the mutualcoupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown ordiscussed may be an indirect coupling or communication connectionthrough some interface, device or unit, which may be in an electrical,mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate components may or may not be physicallyseparate, and the components displayed as units may or may not bephysical units, i.e., may be located a place, or it can be distributedto multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selectedaccording to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of theembodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the presentapplication may be integrated into one monitoring unit, or each unit mayexist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated intoone unit.

This functionality, if implemented as a software functional unit andsold or used as a standalone product, may be stored on a computerreadable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technicalsolution of the present application, which is essential or contributesto the prior art, or a part of the technical solution, may be embodiedin the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium,including instructions used to enable a computer device (which may be apersonal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to perform all orpart of the steps of the methods described in various embodiments of thepresent application. The foregoing storage medium includes: a U disk, amobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory(RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, and the like, which maystore program codes.

The above descriptions are only for illustrating the embodiments of thepresent application, and in no way limit the scope of the embodiments ofthe present application. The variations or alternations that may beeasily thought of by those skilled in the art within the technical scopedisclosed by the embodiments of the present application shall be coveredwithin the scope of self-serving protection of this application.Therefore, the protection scope of this application shall be subject tothe protection scope of the claims.

1. A discontinuous reception method, wherein the method comprises: afirst terminal device determining a target DRX cycle used for the firstterminal device to detect a discontinuous reception (DRX) indicationsignal; the first terminal device detecting the DRX indication signalsent by a network device, in or before the target DRX cycle, wherein,the DRX indication signal is used to indicate that the first terminaldevice wakes up or sleeps during an active period of M DRX cycles aftera moment when the DRX indication signal is detected, the M DRX cyclesare the DRX indication cycle of the first terminal device, and M is apositive integer; the first terminal device wakes up or sleeps duringthe active period of the M DRX cycles after the moment when the DRXindication signal is detected, according to the DRX indication signal.2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, the first terminal devicedetermining the target discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle used for thefirst terminal device to detect the DRX indication signal, comprises:the first terminal device determining the target DRX cycle, in a DRXindication signal cycle used for detecting the DRX indication signal,wherein the DRX indication signal cycle comprises N DRX cycles, N is apositive integer, N=M or N≠M.
 3. The method according to claim 2,wherein, the first terminal device determining the target DRX cycle usedfor the first terminal device to detect the DRX indication signal duringthe DRX indication signal cycle which is used for detecting the DRXindication signal, comprises: the first terminal device determining anoffset value corresponding to the first terminal device, wherein, theoffset value is used to indicate a location of the target DRX cycle inthe DRX indication signal cycle; the first terminal device determiningthe target DRX cycle in the DRX indication signal cycle according to theoffset value.
 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein, the firstterminal device determining the offset value corresponding to the firstterminal device, comprises: the first terminal device determining theoffset value, according to User Equipment Identity (UE-ID) of the firstterminal device, wherein, the offset value is equal to mod (UE-ID, N).5. (canceled)
 6. The method according to claim 3, wherein, the firstterminal device determining the offset value corresponding to the firstterminal device, comprises: the first terminal device determining theoffset value, according to the Cell Identity (Cell ID) of the campingcell or the servicing cell of the first terminal device, wherein, theoffset value is equal to mod (Cell ID, N).
 7. (canceled)
 8. The methodaccording to claim 3, wherein, the first terminal device determining theoffset value corresponding to the first terminal device, comprises: thefirst terminal device receiving first configuration information sent bythe network device, wherein, the first configuration information is usedto indicate the offset value.
 9. The method according to claim 1,wherein, before the first terminal device determines the target DRXcycle used for the first terminal device to detect the DRX indicationsignal during the DRX indication signal cycle, the method furthercomprises: the first terminal device receiving second configurationinformation sent by the network device via Radio Resource Control (RRC)dedicated signaling, broadcast signaling or Media Access Control ControlElement (MAC CE), wherein, the second configuration information is usedto indicate number N of DRX cycles comprised in the DRX indicationsignal cycle.
 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the DRXindication signal is used to indicate that multiple terminal devicescomprising the first terminal device, wake up or sleep during the activeperiod of M DRX cycles after the moment when the DRX indication signalis detected, wherein, the multiple terminal devices corresponding to NDRX cycles in the DRX indication signal cycle, and each of the N DRXcycles is used for a corresponding terminal device to detect the DRXindication signal.
 11. The method according to claim 10, wherein, themultiple terminal devices belong to one of multiple device groups, andthe device group to which the first terminal device belongs isdetermined according to a UE-ID of the first terminal device, an accesslevel of the first terminal device or a configuration parameter used torepresent the device group.
 12. The method according to claim 1,wherein, a system frame number (SFN) of a start system frame of the DRXindication signal cycle satisfies: mod (SFN, N×T)=K, wherein, K is apre-configured natural number, and T is a number of system framescomprised in the DRX cycle. 13.-24. (canceled)
 25. A terminal device,wherein, the terminal device is a first terminal device, the firstterminal device comprises a processor, a transceiver, and anon-transitory memory, wherein when the processor executes instructionsstored in the non-transitory memory, the terminal device is configuredto: determine, by the processor, a target DRX cycle used for the firstterminal device to detect a discontinuous reception (DRX) indicationsignal; detect, by the transceiver, the DRX indication signal sent by anetwork device in the target DRX cycle determined by the determiningunit, wherein, the DRX indication signal is used to indicate that thefirst terminal device wakes up or sleeps during an active period of MDRX cycles after a moment when the DRX indication signal is detected,the M DRX cycles are the DRX indication cycle of the first terminaldevice, and M is a positive integer; wherein the processor wakes up orsleeps during the active period of the M DRX cycles after the momentwhen the DRX indication signal is detected, according to the DRXindication signal detected by the transceiver unit.
 26. The terminaldevice according to claim 25, wherein, the processor is specificallyconfigured to: determine the target DRX cycle, in a DRX indicationsignal cycle used for detecting the DRX indication signal, wherein theDRX indication signal cycle comprises N DRX cycles, N is a positiveinteger, N=M or N≠M.
 27. The terminal device according to claim 26,wherein, the processor is specifically configured to: determine anoffset value corresponding to the first terminal device, wherein, theoffset value is used to indicate a location of the target DRX cycle inthe DRX indication signal cycle; determine the target DRX cycle in theDRX indication signal cycle according to the offset value.
 28. Theterminal device according to claim 27, wherein, the processor isspecifically configured to: determine the offset value, according toUser Equipment Identity (UE-ID) of the first terminal device, wherein,the offset value is equal to mod (UE-ID, N).
 29. (canceled)
 30. Theterminal device according to claim 29, wherein, the processor isspecifically configured to: determine the offset value, according to theCell Identity (Cell ID) of the camping cell or the servicing cell of thefirst terminal device, wherein, the offset value is equal to mod (CellID, N).
 31. (canceled)
 32. The terminal device according to claim 27,wherein, the processor is specifically configured to: receive firstconfiguration information sent by the network device through thetransceiver, wherein, the first configuration information is used toindicate the offset value.
 33. The terminal device according to claim25, wherein, the transceiver is further configured to: receive secondconfiguration information sent by the network device via Radio ResourceControl (RRC) dedicated signaling, broadcast signaling or Media AccessControl Control Element (MAC CE), wherein, the second configurationinformation is used to indicate number N of DRX cycles comprised in theDRX indication signal cycle.
 34. The terminal device according to claim25, wherein, the DRX indication signal is used to indicate that multipleterminal devices comprising the first terminal device, wake up or sleepduring the active period of M DRX cycles after the moment when the DRXindication signal is detected, wherein, the multiple terminal devicescorresponding to N DRX cycles in the DRX indication signal cycle, andeach of the N DRX cycles is used for a corresponding terminal device todetect the DRX indication signal.
 35. The terminal device according toclaim 34, wherein, the multiple terminal devices belong to one ofmultiple device groups, and the device group to which the first terminaldevice belongs is determined according to a UE-ID of the first terminaldevice, an access level of the first terminal device or a configurationparameter used to represent the device group.
 36. The method accordingto claim 25, wherein, a system frame number (SFN) of a start systemframe of the DRX indication signal cycle satisfies: mod (SFN, N×T)=K,wherein, K is a pre-configured natural number, and T is a number ofsystem frames comprised in the DRX cycle. 37.-48. (canceled)